It is a bit surreal to write this post about our trip to Tel Aviv two weeks ago in light of the events over the past few days. During our first trip to Israel we explored Tel Aviv and the ruins of Masada (kind of...more later on that). We went with four other families that we are friends with here and had a total blast. Tel Aviv is only a few short hours away but is quite the contrast to Jordan. We enjoyed the traffic rules, clean streets, and beautiful beaches, although we missed the incredible hospitality/attitude of the Jordanians :)
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We traveled south from Amman, down to the tip of the Dead Sea, crossed the border and then drove around the West Bank up to the coast of the Mediterranean in Tel Aviv
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The four families each rented and apartment at a building a few blocks from the beach. It is always nice to have a kitchen (for all of my cooking, ha) and extra space for the kids. We also brought Alou, our nanny, with us on the trip. She had never been to Israel and always wanted to go. Bonus: every night, we would put the baby to bed, corral all of the older kids together to run wild and the parents went out to real, adult dinners...so fun!
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The Apartment we stayed in - the city has a ton of cool architecture
We arrived late the first night and grabbed some food, drinks, and settled in with good company. The next day we woke up and started exploring the city. Our first stop was for lunch at a restaurant called Little Prague. It was delicious and met all of our needs. It was a big hit with our friend Katie who is a crazy-strict Paleo dieter- see ridiculous chunk of meat below.
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| There are outdoor gyms all along the boardwalk in Tel Aviv- I don't think those super cool dudes with their shirts off appreciated the kid's using it as a jungle gym. Sorry guys. |
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| The Seilings- great friends and huge Steelers fans, what could be better? |
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| Little Prague- giant pork shoulder....oh pork, how we miss you.... |
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| The boardwalk in Tel Aviv, lots to do. |
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| Check out that sky view behind us, so beautiful. |
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| The Stowe's. Dylan and Abby became pretty tight during the trip. |
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| Alou and the kiddos. |
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| Sand castle time. The beach was awesome, even though we accidentally took our families to the beach that catered to men and dogs only...woops. Sure made for a good story. |
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| Dylan and Abby |
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| I could eat him. |
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| Night out! Christine, yes that is a pant suit jumper...or as Dylan's friend Ainsley calls it- "my pajamas" |
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| The Muellers- also great PA people. Also, no kids yet...they keep us young. Sometimes too young though- they don't have those little monsters waking them up after a late night! |
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| The matching shirt picture- Hebrew writing in the back will qualify as the landmark this time |
Masada
So on the last day in Tel Aviv we were all debating whether to go to the Old City (Jaffa) or travel to ancient Masada, a three hours drive to the Dead Sea area on the Israeli side. Masada is a natural fortress in the Judean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. It was a series of fortresses and palaces built by Herod the Great. After Jerusalem fell in 70CE, 1,000 Jewish soldiers and their families hunkered down at Masada and eventually died in a mass suicide before being overrun by the Tenth Legion of the Roman Army. Masada is now a symbol of freedom and independence for the Israelis and often used as the location for soldiers "swearing their oath" before joining the IDF.
Well the only way to get to the top of the hug hill to see Masada is via cable car (or a 5 hour hike). We arrived at 3:30ish and the cable car was supposed to make its last run at 4pm. After unloading the kids and hitting the bathroom, the four families headed the area with the ticket booth for the cable car. The lady told one of our friends that the last ride was going to leave in ten minutes or so and we needed to get our tickets now. So, two minutes later after the last portion of our crew linked up, we proceeded to the booth to buy the tickets. The lady looked right at us (it was still like 3:51) and said, "oh, you are too late, it just left." We were all standing there stunned since we had been standing directly in front of the booth while corralling our gaggle of kids and adults. Why in the world would she just send the cable car away when we were right there waiting? And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why we missed the Jordanian hospitality...
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| Masada- way at the top of that cable car hill |
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| The drive from Tel Aviv to Masada |
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| The Dead Sea from the Israeli side- that is Jordan that you see across the water. Cool moon above too! |
